QR Code Killer (12 page)

Maddie smiled and walked him to the door.
“Dream a good dream, Farmer Man.”

“You can bet I will, Madelyn. I’ll be
dreaming of you.”

Maddie and Erik met with the restaurant
manager at the Marcus Whitman Hotel. He pulled the schedule of who
worked the night Maddie was there with Erik. Personally working the
floor that evening and busy with the crowd, he hadn’t lingered long
at any one table.

Maddie and Erik remembered his friendly,
though brief, chat with them that evening.

Showing him the sketch, Maddie asked if he
remembered seeing a man that resembled the one in the drawing. He
didn’t.

Maddie asked if they could look around the
restaurant and he escorted them inside. Sitting in the booth where
she and Erik ate dinner, Maddie looked around. The way the booths
were set up, Zeus had to have been sitting directly across from
them to get such a clear photo. The booths were deep enough that if
he was sitting one over either direction, he wouldn’t have been
able to take such a direct shot.

“Is there any way to figure out who was
sitting at that booth Friday night, between 6:30 and 8?”

“No, not specifically. I’m sorry.”

“Well, what if the person sitting there was
interested in wine? Do you get a lot of wine sales?”

The manager chuckled. “This is Walla Walla.
It’s all about the wine.”

“Right,” Maddie said, her mind working over
what few details they did know. Looking at Erik, he seemed to be
lost in thought.

“Just for the sake of playing this through,”
Erik said, “Let’s say whoever sat at this booth fancied himself as
quite a connoisseur of good wine. He’s probably not worried about
the cost. What bottle would he order?”

“We’ve got a few higher end choices,” the
restaurant manager said, pulling out a wine list and turning pages.
He pointed to a listing for a special reserve wine that was priced
at almost $200.

Maddie looked at the list. “How many bottles
of these do you sell in an average evening?”

“Not many,” the restaurant manager said. “I
do remember one of the girls saying an older gentleman ordered a
bottle, drank a glass and then left the rest. Most people buying
that particular bottle aren’t going to waste it. He was sitting on
the opposite side of the restaurant from you, but I don’t remember
in exactly which booth.”

“Do you remember what the gentleman looked
like?” Maddie asked, thinking they might finally be on to a
lead.

“He was probably in his late 60s, early 70s,
gray hair and tall. I do remember thinking he appeared pretty fit
for someone his age. He seemed to prefer to be left alone. I
remember the girls commenting on that.”

“Great. Anything else you remember?” Maddie
asked, taking notes. “Anything at all?”

“He paid in cash. I remember he left the
waitress a generous tip.”

“One last question,” Maddie said. “Do you
know if that gentleman is staying here at the hotel?”

“I don’t believe so, but we can ask at the
front desk.” Leading them to the front desk and speaking with the
front office manager, it was soon decided that the gentleman in
question was not a guest of the hotel.

“If you remember anything else, or your staff
remembers anything, please give me a call,” Maddie said, handing
over a card with her cell phone number on it. “Thank you for your
cooperation and your time.”

Erik and Maddie drove out to the airport and
checked with security to see if anyone recognized Zeus’ sketch.
Maddie asked about an older gentleman, using the description the
restaurant manager gave her.

“Ma’am, you’ve just described quite a few of
our passengers. Without a photo or some attribute that would make
him stand out from the crowd, we can’t help you out.”

“I understand,” Maddie said and thanked him
for his time.

“Where to next?” Erik asked as he held the
door for Maddie and helped her climb into his pickup. As tiny as
she was, he was glad he had installed a step on his pickup for
Sheila. She always complained about trying to crawl into his big
pickup. Maddie didn’t seem to notice at all.

“Let’s run by John’s office,” Maddie said as
they left the airport.

Finding John out, Maddie left him a note to
give her a call when he had time.

Leaving the sheriff’s office, Maddie suddenly
wondered how Zeus seemed to know her every move. He couldn’t be
watching her round the clock and she seriously doubted he had
anyone else staking out the farm. The type of guys he usually had
surrounding him would not put their feet on anything that wasn’t
paved asphalt, no matter how much Zeus was paying.

“Erik, would you mind stopping at that store,
there,” Maddie said, pointing to a grocery store. “I want to run in
and grab a few things.”

“Sure,” Erik said, pulling in and parking.
When he started to speak, Maddie held her finger to her lips and
motioned him to get out. Hurrying out her side before Erik had a
chance to help her down, she grabbed his hand and nearly ran into
the grocery store. Dragging Erik down an empty aisle, she stopped
midway.

“I think Zeus may have bugged the house,
quite possibly your pickup. Goodness only knows what else.”

Erik looked at Maddie, surprised and stunned.
He had watched quite a few cop shows on TV, but actually living
through being hunted by a demented killer was completely different.
He felt violated. His sense of self-protection and security
deflated as he thought about what all Zeus may have heard or
seen.

“Do you think he’s got cameras up around the
farm, or just the bugs?”

“Not sure. But the more I think about it, the
more I think he snuck in and bugged the house. So when we get home,
we’re going to have to act like we don’t know that while we find
the bugs. Pull your pickup into the shop when we get back and I’ll
have Danny go through it to see what he can find.”

“Won’t we need to figure out what to say,
before we say anything? I feel like I shouldn’t talk at all.” Erik
hated having his privacy breached. He knew Danny and Maddie were
trained to deal with this kind of thing, but he found the idea of
someone listening in on every conversation completely
unnerving.

“For now, let’s not tell anyone but Danny and
see what we find. We can’t let Zeus know if we do find them. We’ll
need to leave them and keep talking normally or he will know we’re
on to him.”

“Okay,” Erik said, running his hand through
his hair. “We better make this look like a real trip to pick up a
few things, then, in case he is watching us.”

“True,” Maddie said. “What’s on your shopping
list today?”

“Ice cream,” Erik said, heading to the
freezer section. “I think I see a sundae making party in our
immediate future.”

Maddie laughed. “I’ll go get some bananas and
meet you at the syrup.”

“It’s a date,” Erik said, selecting two
half-gallons of the frozen confection.

Paying for their purchases, they got back in
the pickup and headed toward home.

“Won’t Aunt Lena be surprised she’s off the
hook for dinner and dessert tonight?” Maddie said.

“Yes, although I’m not sure I trust your
cooking,” Erik teased, trying to remember to sound and act natural.
“Lena told me you barely know how to work the toaster.”

“That is so not true,” Maddie huffed, growing
a little indignant. She could fry an egg and boil water for pasta.
Erik volunteered to grill steaks and Maddie thought she could
manage making a green salad and wrapping potatoes in foil to cook
next to the steaks on the barbecue. A loaf of French bread and ice
cream sundaes would finish off the meal. “I can work the toaster
and the microwave.”

Erik laughed and squeezed Maddie’s hand. He
turned her hand so it rested palm up next to his leg. Then he began
writing letters, one at a time on her palm with his finger. Paying
close attention, Maddie got the message he was sending - “I like
you.”

Smiling at him with surging warmth in her
eyes, she didn’t speak, just nodded her head.

Erik was about to say something when he
noticed a big, black SUV bearing down on them. As it neared, he
could see it didn’t have any plates. That was odd.

Out on a stretch of country road without
another car in sight, Erik began to grow concerned.

“Looks like we may have company,” Erik said,
glancing warily in the rearview mirror.

“Mind slowing down?” Maddie asked, not
wanting to turn around, but trying to see the vehicle in the side
mirror. “Maybe they’ll go around us.”

Erik slowed and the SUV stayed right on his
bumper. Maddie took a deep breath.

“Some people should have their license
revoked,” Maddie commented, fairly certain Zeus was listening to
the conversation. “This idiot should really not be allowed to
drive, let alone maneuver such a big rig. What’s that tiny little
electric car you see on all the commercials?”

“Oh, the Smart car or the Mini?”

“One of those. That’s what this ninny should
drive,” Maddie said. “I honestly think they should give an IQ test
right along with the driving test. Based on a person’s IQ level,
that is what type of vehicle they should be allowed to drive.
Seriously, some people are beyond pathetic.”

If the SUV got any closer to them, Erik knew
their bumpers would connect and he really didn’t want to wreck his
pickup.

Glancing at Maddie she mouthed “floor it,”
which Erik did. It caught the SUV driver by surprise and they
pulled ahead as they whipped through a few curves in the road. The
driver was starting to gain on them again when Maddie pointed to a
side road.

Waiting until the last second, Erik slammed
on his brakes and took the turn onto the side road at a speed that
sent gravel splaying out behind them. The pickup fishtailed, but
Erik kept it moving forward. The SUV driver was going too fast to
make the turn. Erik revved up the engine and they sped away.

Maddie pointed their way home through a
series of winding side roads. At one point, Erik was pretty sure
they were bouncing across someone’s private property, but he
followed her leading. They came out on the irrigation road that ran
on the backside of the Weber farm. From here, they had a great view
of the wind turbines.

Erik left Maddie and the groceries at the
house then drove his pickup to the shop where Zach and Danny were
servicing a tractor.

“Any luck?” Zach asked as Erik got out of the
pickup.

“No. We just hit a bunch of dead ends,” Erik
said, picking up a notepad and furiously scribbling a message
across it. He handed it to Danny while Zach read over his
shoulder.

Maddie thinks the house and my truck are
bugged. Danny - she said you could check the truck, she is checking
the house. An unmarked SUV just tried to run us off the road.

Danny nodded his head and picked back up on
their conversation. “Well, that’s too bad. Zach mentioned you are
having some trouble with your truck. Want me to take a look at
it?”

“That would be great,” Erik said, popping the
hood. “You guys are much better at this mechanical stuff than I
am.”

“That’s because you’re the champion farmer,”
Zach said, slapping Erik on the back. “Say, what kind of spray do
you think we should use on…” Zach and Erik launched into a
discussion on weed killer, fertilizer and irrigation methods while
Danny methodically searched through Erik’s pickup for the bug. He
found it placed beneath the glove box. It was so tiny no one would
ever have found it unless they knew what they were looking for.
Rather than remove it, Danny left it in place. He motioned for Zach
and Erik to follow him over to the tractor they had been working
on. Picking up a hammer, he banged it against a piece of iron,
creating enough noise he could whisper what he found.

“Let’s leave it in place for now,” Danny
said. “We might be able to use it to our advantage.”

“Okay,” Erik said, not liking the idea of
having Zeus listening to every move he made or word he said in his
pickup. “I’m going to get back to work. I’ll be in for lunch,” Erik
said, leaving his pickup at the shop and walking down to the
equipment shed.

Danny waited a few minutes then made some
excuse about dying of thirst and headed up to the house.

Stepping into the kitchen, he greeted Lena
and begged for a glass of iced tea. When she handed it to him, he
quietly asked her where Maddie was and she pointed toward the
living room.

Danny walked into the room and gave Maddie an
imploring look. She held up two fingers and nodded her head,
indicating she had already found two bugs. Danny helped her look in
the living room and the office, but they didn’t find anything.
Taking Danny’s hand, Maddie tugged him down to the basement where
she was pretty certain they could talk freely. If you didn’t know
the basement was there, you’d be hard pressed to find it. Danny
didn’t know there was one and he’d been through the house numerous
times.

“I found a bug in Erik’s truck, just like you
thought.” Danny sat down on an old, worn chair. A cloud of dust
puffed out around him. Coughing he shot Maddie an annoyed look.
“You could have warned me.”

“I could have,” Maddie said with a grin. “I
found a bug in the kitchen near the sink and another by the table.
He seems to know that is where we spend the most time talking.

“The rest of the downstairs seems clean. Are
you going to check upstairs?”

“I am, but I think we should leave the bugs
in place for now. It gives us a little advantage that I don’t want
to lose. We may figure out a way to lure him out of hiding using
them as a feed for false information.”

“That’s what I was thinking. I told Erik I’m
leaving the one in his truck.”

“I bet he was thrilled with that,” Maddie
said, leaning against a rickety table.